unique and interesting: February 2007

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Honda F1 Car With Environmental Livery

Honda's 2007 Formula One race car will feature a huge image of the earth in place of the traditional advertising and sponsor logos. The car's unusual livery is part of a Honda initiative designed to help raise awareness of the environmental issues facing the planet.

As part of the initiative, anyone will be able to pledge their support to Honda's green commitment and make a donation to an environmental charity. Those doing so can get their name put on the car, with each name forming a tiny individual pixel which will help build the image of planet earth.

New Orleans City Insane Asylum Patients Records

Responsibility for insane patients housed in the City Insane Asylum fell to the City Physician, who was to visit patients at least once a day and to discharge those patients who had sufficiently recovered. This volume contains information on insane patients visited by the City Physician and recommended to the State Asylum.

For each patient, the record includes name, race, sex, age, place of birth, type of insanity and sometimes a description of the patient's behavior.

Mary Prague - Entered Februaryy 23rd, 1869 – native U.S. – Kind of Insanity when she entered – Furious Mania. Does not know her name. Has a bony eminence at the center of the fore-head. Thinks herself to be the Virgin Mary – The lump on her forehead was there when she entered the institution. Might be 43, but probably not.

Floating Instrument Platform

FLIP is a research vessel that can rotate to a vertical position. It is currently owned by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Dead Celebrity Soulmate Search

This is a very weird site from the Biography Channel. It's supposed to be a game. The Dead Celebrity Soulmate Search is a fake service with a real match. End the heartache of today's 'real live people' dating scene. You can find your life-partner amongst the most famous names in history.

After entering some data (gender, location and inerests) it seems that my soulmate is May West.

A look at infographics and commercials from 2027, courtesy of the movie Children of Men.

(via Metafilter)

BLTC Research

BLTC Research is a non-profit research organization which was founded in 1995. It seeks to elucidate the underlying physiological mechanisms of physical and mental suffering, with the intention of eradicating any form of suffering.

The goals of research in Better Living Through Chemistry include determining the final common neurological pathway of both pleasure and pain in the brain. Once this process is better understood, it could be possible to more effectively design medicines and other treatments for various mental illnesses, as well as cure the painful symptoms of many diseases.

You dream about tone. You practise relentlessly. You dedicate yourself to mastering your instrument. But all your hard work could be wasted the moment you sterp onto stage.

Nothing can be more disheartening for the modern cowbellist than to find the sound of his instrument drowned out by the overpowering volume of today's electric guitars and drums.

Simple Wikipedia

Simple Wikipedia uses easy words and shorter sentences so people who read little English may easily read them. Here's an example were Simple Wikipedia explains the meaning of 'politics.'

Politics is about making agreements between people so that they can live together in groups such as tribes, cities, or countries. In large groups, such as countries, some people may spend a lot of their time making such agreements. These people are called politicians. Politicians, and sometimes other people, may get together to form a government. The government tries to lead the whole group.

One of the ways the government leads the group is by making laws which tell everybody what they can and can not do. There are also disagreements between different countries. If these are very serious, they can lead to war. Attempts to solve the problem are then called diplomacy.

In most countries, people have formed political parties to put forward their ideas. There is usually some disagreement between people within a party, but they work together because they feel that they agree on enough things, and they will have more power if they join together.

(via Google Blogoscoped)

Bloomframe

Bloomframe is an innovative window frame which can be transformed into a balcony. The balcony gives the user a flexible living environment. Opening the Bloomframe window offers the possibility to step outside and enjoy the outdoor space. With one simple movement, light, air and space are added to the interior.

The Bloomframe is designed and patented by Hofman Dujardin Architects based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Shut Down Day - March 24, 2007

It is obvious that people would find life extremely difficult without computers, maybe even impossible. If they disappeared for just one day, would we be able to cope? Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet: Shutdown Day!

The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate! Shutdown your computer on March 24 and find out! Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer?

(via A Journey to my Father's House)

Copyright Navigator

A digital annotated concept map of the fundamentals of U.S. copyright law by Lionel S. Sobel, Professor of Southwestern University School of Law.

Place your mouse in the circle and move and click.

Linkdump

If Operating Systems Ran The Airlines

52 Proven Stress Reducers

Weird Bass Guitars

Logo Design History

Gizmodo's Anti-RIAA Manifesto

The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the largest bony fish in the world. It is a unique pelagic fish, and specimens of ocean sunfish have been observed up to 11 ft in length and weighing up to 5,100 lb.

Distribution Of Blood Types

In 1900 Karl Landsteiner, a physician at the University of Vienna, discovered the ABO blood group system.

Based on the reactions between the red blood cells and the sera, he was able to divide individuals into three groups: A, B, and O. Two years later, two of his students discovered the fourth and rarest type, namely AB.Distribution of blood types in the world.

(via Grow-A-Brain)

Use Your Head To Find Those Lost Remotes

From American Inventor Spot:

Whether a hardcore audiophile or casual TV watcher, somehow, we still end up with way more remotes and portable handheld devices than we can handle.

That many devices can only result in valuable hours wasted searching for the lost and misplaced... but not if the Remote Wrangler has anything to do with it.

Marian Anderson Historical Society

Today is Marian Anderson's birthday. She was born on February 27, 1897 and died April 8, 1993. Marian Anderson was the first black singer to perform in the White House (1936) and at NY's Metropolitan Opera House (1955).

In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution prevented her from performing in a concert at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR in protest, and arranged for Marian Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial, instead, where 75,000 turned out to hear her sing 'America.'

Lucas Arts Sues Digg Over Name

George Lucas's entertainment company has filed opposition to social media site Digg's attempt to trademark its name. The dispute is based on Lucasart's 1995 video game, 'The Dig.'

Beautiful photographs and some short stories of 'lost cities.'

eXasis

The eXasis is the result of a collaboration between Rinspeed and Bayer MaterialScience AG. The eXasis is built on an aluminum frame with plastic body panels and floor that let you get a good look at the structure and components, as well as the road passing rapidly underneath. The eXasis makes its debut at the Geneva Motor Show on March 8th.

Just How Many Drinks A Day Is Bad?

Is a glass or two of wine a day good for you?
You would think this would be an easy question to answer, but it's not, and that's because of this:
how many glasses of wine are in a bottle?

A Worth1000 Photoshop contest.

Tex Avery. Chuck Jones. Bill Watterson. It's clear that many of the great artists of the last century chose to work in the medium of cartoons. But what if they had decided to showcase their creations in classic paintings instead?

Nearly everyone has fallen to the temptation of picking one's nose in public. It is a strangely pleasant experience, but unfortunately an experience that is meant to be done in private rather than in full view of the public eye.

The Nose Picker offers a more hygienic approach to this favorite past time, boasting a fake finger that is made from synthetic rubber along with a clean nail to boot. There is a handle located at the end of the finger's joint for you to navigate it through your olfactory orifices.

Amazing Slow Motion Videos

A video that shows images taken with a high speed camera.

Ten Best Mannered People from 1992 - 2005

Each year, the National League of Junior Cotillions releases it's list for the Ten Best Mannered People. The major criteria for selections is that the indvidual has been an outstanding role model of good manners and exemplary behavior during the current year.

NLJC students from across the nation submit their list of nominations from individuals who are news makers from a wide variety of activities including but not limited to: politics, business, sports, arts, military, music, comedy, television, motion pictures or theater.

(via Information Junk)

Millions would love a chance to wipe their feet on Adolf Hitler and now it looks like they could have the chance with this 'Hitler Rug.' The work is by Israeli artist Boaz Arad who says he is hoping to show how the Holocaust has scarred Israel, but also been misused by it.

He says the rug is a representation of what a Nazi hunter would do if he caught the ultimate prize, the Nazi leader.

Eight Women Who Look Better Bald Than Britney

OK, I promise this is going to be the last time I post something about Britney Spears' newly shaven head.
Until something new comes up, of course.
But here are eight women who look better bald than Britney.

(via Change of Subject)

Art made with Rubik Cubes.

Numbers From One To Thirty-One

Numbers from one to thirty-one. A page for each day of the month. Click on a number on the calendar to learn more about it.

(via corsinet)

Home Schooled

Home Schooled is a comics series by American artist Ash Jackson.
Co-writing by Silas Jackson.
The Presurfer will feature a Home Schooled cartoon every Monday. This is an absolute exclusive cooperation between The Presurfer and Ash Jackson.

Home Schooled is more or less a reflection of the wacky and occasionally interesting adventures of the artist, Ash Jackson, himself, with the aid of his friends, family, and other cohorts.

Title: A Dinosauric Intervention.

click on the picture for real size

Internet

A Canadian production from the 90s about a new revolution called Internet.

Here's a question. Which of the pictures you see above is a computer rendered image? I think your first guess is the blond woman. But since readers of this blog are intelligent people, and because of the nature of the question, you might say it has to be the dark-haired lady.

Well, they're both computer graphics! The image on the right is obvious but I think the one on the left has you stunned. It was made by Max Wahyudi from Jakarta, Indonesia, and the model is Korean actress Song Hye Kyo. Could this be the most realistic looking 3D rendered image of a human?

(via A Welsh View)

Grave Of Jesus Found

The cave in which Jesus Christ was buried has been found in Jerusalem, claim the makers of a new documentary film. The film was made by James Cameron, the man who brought you 'Titanic.'

If it proves true, the discovery, which will be revealed at a press conference in New York tomorrow, could shake up the Christian world as one of the most significant archeological finds in history. The coffins which, according to the filmmakers held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene will be displayed for the first time tomorrow in New York.

The story starts in 1980 in Jerusalem's Talpiyot neighborhood, with the discovery of a 2,000 year old cave containing ten coffins.
Six of the ten coffins were carved with inscriptions reading the names: Jesua son of Joseph, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Matthew, Jofa (Joseph, identified as Jesus' brother), Judah son of Jesua (Jesus' son - the filmmakers claim).

I don't know if this is true or just another stunt but it's bound to outrage Christians and stir up a debate between believers and skeptics.

For sale on eBay: 1984 Pontiac Trans Am Knight Rider replica. An exact to detail replica of the famous talking car known as K.I.T.T from the TV show Knight Rider with David HasselHoff.

101 Amazing Earth Facts

What were the worst disasters on Earth? What is the lowest spot on our planet, the tallest peak, do you know how far it is to the center of the planet or what's there? Where are the planet's hottest, coldest, driest and windiest places?

101 Amazing Earth Facts.

The Mugnum is a coffee mug with a pistol grip.

Whenever someone feels bored, tense or sad, they need something to cheer them up. This is what this mug can offer, a bit of excitement in their morning lives. The feeling of secure, the feeling of confident, and the desire to go ahead.

(via Boing Boing)

The 51 Best Magazines Ever

Good Magazine has a list of the smartest, prettiest, coolest, funniest, most influential, most necessary, most important, most essential magazines ever.

Your Own Bald Britney

We all know that Brit shaved off her hair last week. She didn't mind very much according to these pictures. It's being rumoured that she shaved her head in the first place because Kevin Federline threatened to have her hair drug-tested as part of his ongoing child custody fight. It's actually all very sad.

But not for us. We can still have fun with Britney. From this Russian site comes the Britney Spears cardboard cutout. Click on the picture on the site, print it out, cut it out on the black lines, bend on the grey, and glue the white edges together.

CoolWX is a weather page with unique content since 1994. The site is maintained by Dr Robert Hart, a professor at Florida State. with a PhD from Penn State. In meteorological parlance, WX is weather.

CoolWX works with over 3,500 global stations to report extreme weather phenomenon every three hours. Visitors can search forecasts, or browse by meteorological topics such as blizzard, temperature, wind, thunderstorm, visibility, etc.

You can also look for extreme and weird temperatures in the world. For instance, at the moment of this writing, 3 stations are reporting a temperature of -49°F or colder: Mayo Airport, Canada, Eagle Airport, USA, and Fort Yukon Airport, USA. In contrast, 3 stations are reporting temperatures of 104°F or warmer, all in Australia: Curtin, Learmonth Airport, and Telfer.

Linkdump

The Weirdest Drive Thrus

Wooster Collective

9 Weird Things to Feed the Birds

Photo Illusions

A 330-foot-deep sinkhole killed two teenage siblings when it swallowed about a dozen homes early Friday and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood. Officials blamed the sinkhole on recent rains and an underground sewage flow from a ruptured main.

See the amazing pictures.

The National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, PA, USA, was officially opened to the public in 1977 with fewer than 1,000 items. Since that time, the collection has increased to over 12,000 items and the museum has undergone several expansion projects. Today, the museum is recognized as the largest and most comprehensive horological collection in North America.

The National Watch and Clock Museum collection is international in scope and covers a wide variety of clocks, watches, tools, and other time-related items. The main focus of the collection is on nineteenth-century American clocks and watches. However, additional collections include early English Tallcase clocks, Asian timepieces from Japan and China, and timekeeping devices from Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Russia.

Saleh Talib Saleh used to dream that he would grow horns on his head. He dismissed them as mere fancy at first, but then, at the ripe old age of 78, a horn did indeed begin to grow on the left side of his head. Saleh claims that the horn started growing over 25 years ago.

He has no explanation as to how the horn developed or why. However, a large medical team at the Aden Specialized Hospital believe that the horn was caused by multiplying layers of hardened, dried skin on Saleh's head.

Virtual High Five

Start your day with a 'Virtual High Five' with this simulator from The Platypus Society.

A declaration of intent needs to be stated. There are many different ways to declare that you are about to issue a high five. 'Gimme five!' or 'High five!' are common declarative statements of palm slappage, while the less common 'Slap me some skin' or 'Up high' are also acceptable.

Strike your hand against the image hand on your screen to receive your Virtual High Five. This may also be accompanied by an exclamation of enjoyment. (Note: Computer screens can be fragile, so strike at your own risk.

Jack Hall (The Matchstick Man) from the United Kingdom proved that a ukulele didn't need to be made with conventional tools or from the finest materials to play well, sound good and be beautiful to look at.

This one-of-a-kind 1984 ukulele was made entirely from used wooden matchsticks... 10,000 of them painstakingly glued together with 2 lbs of hide glue.

(via Reality Carnival)

Peekvid

I don't know whether this is legal but at Peekvid you can watch videos online. Movies, TV series, cartoons, comedy and anime, you can't name it or it's there.

Beautiful photographs by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

The 50 Craziest Pop Stars Ever

You don't have to be crazy to be a rock star. But let's just say the world would be a far less colorful place without these 50 drug-addled, tantrum-throwing, Thorazine-gulping and/or just plain mad music maestros.
Guess who's at number one?

The 50 Craziest Pop Stars Ever.

How To Stop A Truck With A Bollard

A bollard is a post preventing vehicles from entering an area. Rising bollards are used to secure sensitive areas from attack. See what happens when a truck hits a bollard.

D-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y

The correct spelling is definitely.

(via jvworldwide)

Grand Canyon West, a destination owned and operated by the Hualapai Tribe at the Grand Canyon's western rim, announces March 28, 2007 as the official public opening date of The Skywalk.

The Grand Canyon Skywalk will be the first-ever cantilever shaped glass walkway to suspend more than 4,000 feet above the canyon's floor and extend 70 feet from the canyon's rim.

The Stone Spheres Of Costa Rica

One of the strangest mysteries in archaeology was discovered in the 1930s in the Diquis Delta of Costa Rica. The stone spheres of Costa Rica are a collection of some three hundred polished stone orbs.

In the 1930s the United Fruit Company was excavating the fertile, yet remote, farmlands of Costa Rica, near the Diquis Valley on the Pacific Ocean coast. As workers dug and prepared the land for cultivation, they discovered many large stone spheres buried and impaled in the tropical soil.

The stone spheres were previously unknown to the local inhabitants and they could offer no explanation of who made them or how old they were. Plantation workers bulldozed them and largely ignored them until rumors started spreading that they may contain gold or precious jewels. Many balls were drilled or cracked open with dynamite, only to reveal that they were composed of solid rock.

More information on the stone spheres on World Mysteries.

I've been linking to Bart Bonte's games before. Now he has a new game called Chicken Grow.

It's a point-and-click game where you have to grow chickens by feeding them grain and water. How you do that? You have to find out yourself.

Chicken Grow.

6 Plus Equal 1

Ephemera

Ephemera refers to written and printed matter published with a short intended lifetime. In the world of collectors common types of ephemera include letters, advertising trade cards, cigarette cards, airsickness bags, posters, postcards, baseball cards, tickets, greeting cards, stock certificates, photographs and zines.

Ephemera is a weblog exploring the world of old paper. It's done by Marty Weil, a freelance journalist and ephemera dealer, consultant, and researcher.

Beautiful photographs of the nomads of Tibet and Bhutan by Daniel Miller.

Over centuries, the nomads acquired complex knowledge about the environment in which they lived and upon which their lives depended, which enabled them to persist in one of the most inhospitable places on earth. But, they did more than just survive. The nomads created a unique, vibrant culture, about which, even today, so little is known.

(via plep)

The Flickr Related Tag Browser lets you surf Flickr's 'tag space'.

Flickr tags are keywords used to classify images. Each tag has a list of 'related' tags, based on clustered usage analysis.

(via Ursi's Blog)

Prisoners Of YouTube

Meet the most hilarious people ever to lose their jobs, friends, livelihoods, and their dignity - all for your personal amusement.

The Prisoners of YouTube.

Emmeline, the little girl who was forgotten by absolutely everyone, even the postman.

A story about Emmeline who lived in a town that doesn't exist.

At least, not anymore!

Ramenskoye is a town in Moscow Oblast in Russia, located 46 km southeast of Moscow. Its name means 'the edge of forest.'
The town is not only known for Zhukovsky Airfield, where the majority of Soviet aircraft were tested, but also for its painted houses.

(thanks Peter)

Top Atheist Quotes

Atheist quotes collected from various sources like newsgroups, books and people's submissions.

* If God doesn't like the way I live, let HIM tell me, not you.
* An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support.
* A man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle.

And now, The Man Christ Jesus, Dr Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, is coming to the USA. The King of kings and Lord of lords has arrived in America.

This self-proclaimed Son of God is a 60 year old former heroin addict and convict. The divorced father of 4 was born in Puerto Rico and now lives in South Florida with his second wife. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda believes his life and teachings supersede those of Jesus of Nazareth - a point which he emphasizes by referring to himself as the Antichrist and by exhibiting a '666' tattoo on his forearm.